By Greg Fry

Kamloops RCMP members pay respect to fallen police officer

Nov 20, 2017 | 1:53 PM

KAMLOOPS — Police officers from the Kamloops RCMP paid their respects to Const. John Davidson,  the 53-year-old Abbotsford police officer who was killed while on duty two weeks ago, Sunday in Abbotsford.

An estimated 1,000 RCMP members were on hand for the procession route of first responders, government employees and the hearse carrying Const. Davidson’s remains.

“The officers were fortunate to be there to support John’s family and his friends as well we wanted to show support for our colleagues at the Abbotsford Police Department,” said Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie.

She said there was no question they’d be making the trip south.

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“Being a police officer is truly like having an extended family around you. And even though we’re not a part of the same police force, we still feel ties to them in that we all do the same job every day and we all know the dangers of the job day in and day out,” said Shelkie. “And so whether it’s somebody that we went through training with or somebody in another police force, we wanted to be there to show our support as they would for us if anything happened to any of us.”

Are cases like these hard on officer morale?

“It’s a time for reflection, that’s for sure. Every officer, we all know that the dangers are there everyday, but when something like this happens it does make us pause and reflect. But it’s also something that makes us look back on our training and realize that while there are dangers day in and day out, we do have the training that will help us in these times and it kind of makes us resolve to be safe and do our very best.”

Davidson got his start in policing in 1993 and had worked in the Abbotsford department for 11 years. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Sixty-five-year-old Alberta resident Oscar Arfmann has been charged with first-degree murder.